Can a computerized tracking system improve faculty compliance with medical student evaluations?
OBJECTIVE
We examined whether using a new personal digital assistant (PDA)-based computerized tracking system (PDAT) improved the rate of faculty evaluation of students compared to using written clinical encounter cards. Also, we examined whether the addition of e-mail reminders to PDAT affected the evaluation rate.


METHODS
Retrospective review of collected data on evaluation rates before and after implementation of the computerized tracking system, with and without e-mail reminders. Written encounter cards were available during all phases of the study. The study was conducted at Wake Forest University School of Medicine.


RESULTS
Evaluation rates between three separate 3-month periods were compared: (1) written cards alone, (2) PDAT alone and (3) PDAT plus e-mail reminders to the faculty (PDAT-e). The odds ratio (OR) for faculty completion of evaluations was 2.97 when electronic and paper submission were available compared to paper-only evaluations (95% CI: 2.10-4.22, p-value <0.0001). With the addition of e-mail reminders, the OR was 4.19 (95% CI: 2.98-5.88, p-value <0.0001).


CONCLUSIONS
PDAT significantly improved faculty compliance with medical student evaluations when compared with written cards alone. The addition of e-mail reminders further improved faculty compliance, but this was not statistically significant. The use of a PDAT appears to be an effective way to improve faculty compliance with medical student evaluations.
Manthey
David
D
Wake forest University School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, USA.
Magilner
David I
DI
Ozumba
Adora
A
Neiberg
Rebecca H
RH
D034201:Computers, Handheld; D004650:Employee Performance Appraisal / Q000379:methods*; D005069:Evaluation Studies as Topic; D005180:Faculty, Medical / Q000592:standards*; D019983:Guideline Adherence; D006801:Humans; D009657:North Carolina; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D013337:Students, Medical